


The disappearance of 21

by LeafoftheFox



Category: Original Work
Genre: Asexual Character, Dimension Travel, High School, Implied/Referenced Torture, Inaccurate portrayal of the police, It's pretty vague, Mild Language, Mystery, Nicknames, Nightmares, for plot reasons, much later in the story, my boy swears lot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:48:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22545793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeafoftheFox/pseuds/LeafoftheFox
Summary: Lost and confused, a young boy on the run's attempts to go home are foiled when he is face with having to cope in the deadliest environment in existence: School.However, not everything is as safe or normal as it seems...
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

His heart pounded in his chest; his breath came in short gasps and his feet crashed into the bare ground as he raced past sporadically placed mounds of ash and half withered trees. A blazing ball of energy flew past his head as he ran. He didn't even flinch at the singed hairs of the near miss or the fire lit by its' landing.

  
"Dammit!" he cursed and swerved towards the remnants of a forest in an attempt to evade his dogged pursuer. It was all he could do to keep moving, letting his momentum push him forwards, his arms pumping as he fought not to fall or be caught.

Then the air began to change. It distorted like a heatwave and became thinner, harder to breathe. It was almost as if the very atoms that surrounded it were being sucked away. Razor noticed none of this as he charged onwards, intent one escape, only to disappear in a flash of light and a yell of pain.


	2. A strange new world

Razor groaned and ran his hands through his sandy blonde hair as he came to. He coughed as he sat up, steadying himself on one hand. He blinked his eyes quickly, trying to clear his blurred vision and shaking his head to diminish his pounding headache. Hid body ached as though he'd been pulled apart and put back together again.

  
"Ugh. Where am I?" he moaned as he squinted at his surroundings.

"What the fuck!?" he yelled when lorry head lights blinded him. He scrambled back, off the road, onto the dead grass by the roadside. His hair was plastered against his face by the huge gust of wind that the lorry buffeted him with when in zoomed past, barely missing him. He looked around wildly, seeing a vast car filled length of road spanning both sides. It was a wonder he hadn't been run over.

"Shit! How did get here? Where's the hell is-!?" Razor attempted to stagger to his feet only to stumble, unbalance and fall.

"Is it just me or am I shorter?" He muttered to himself incredulously. He crawled over to the nearest puddle and screamed. His blue eyed, blonde haired, youthful eleven year old face stared back at him.

"The fuck!?" he exclaimed, touching his face as if to check if the reflection was real. As he rushed backwards away from the puddle he felt paper. Underneath his hand was a newspaper "'Monster' Deaths and Disappearances on the rise," he read out loud. He held his head in his hands.

"What the fuck is going on?" he whispered fearfully.

"That nutjob's theories can't be true can they?"  
The boy's head jerked up when he heard the wail of a police siren.

"Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop," he murmured with crossed fingers as he watched the car approach. Razor groaned when he saw the vehicle begin to slow and then stop before him, window rolling cleanly down.

"Damn my luck" he hissed.

"What ya doin' out here all alone kid?" one of the cops questioned, voice heavy with suspicion. Razor cast around for a believable excuse.

"Uh, taking a walk?" he tried with a nervous grin as if begging to be trusted.

"Alright kid, get in" the cop motioned to the car's back doors.

The blonde's eyes widened in panic and he turned tail and ran across the dusty plain.

"Hey! Get back here!" the cop yelled as he and his partner got out of the car to give chase. Razor, already tired of running, only hoped for a good hiding place.

  
The young boy scoured his surroundings and… There! He saw a tall hedge, likely cordoning off grazing animals or private land. Razor vaulted unsteadily over the metre tall hedge and into the field of cows on the other side. He quickly dropped to the ground and rolled under just before the cops followed. Assuming he'd raced into the mass of animals, the cops continued on.

He lay there for an hour, ignoring the poking branches as his heavy breathing steadily slowed before the cops came back, grumbling under their breaths.  
He held his breath in anticipation as they clambered over the hedge and released a great sigh once he heard them retreating across the field. The boy waited another two tense hours as a precautionary measure before finally allowing exhaustion to overtake his weary body.

"I'll get back soon" he muttered as his eyes drifted shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this! :)  
> ~Leaf


	3. On the road again

Razor yawned and rolled over, stretching out his arms as he awoke. He blinked at the filtered sunlight and then winced when sharp, twisting branches poked at him as he moved. 

“Wha?” He muttered, momentarily confused by the abnormal situation. He furrowed his brows for a few seconds before starting upward, yelping when branches stabbed and scratched at any exposed skin. He groaned in consternation when he remembered the previous day’s events. He held a hand to his grazed forehead in pain as he shuffled out from under the bush and into a field of black and white cows.

“Nice place,” He scoffed sarcastically under his breath. Now unhindered by cramped branches, the blonde stretched further and glanced around.

“Well, better take inventory,” He mumbled under his breath. The boy dragged his worn, blue backpack from under the hedge and flopped cross-legged onto the coarse, cow grazed grass. He then reached to the side, taking his dirty shoulder bag in hand and pulling it closer. He frowned, put-off by the larger than usual amount effort it took. Both bags were sturdy, but well used.

First, he took out a dark green, padlocked chest and set it almost reverently to the side. Then he turned back to the bag and started his mental checklist, muttering as he did so. Razor was intensely bored by the time he’d finished cataloguing his clothes, cat food, knives and other assorted, banged up items.

The blonde flopped onto his back with his arms spread out and his eyes closed, taking a few moments just to enjoy the sun above and the grass between his fingers He was broken sharply from his musings by the sound of rustling in the hedge.  
The boy leapt up into a defensive crouch at the sound and scanned the area for movement. He almost attacked the three-legged black cat that wandered out, only relax at the sight of the rustler.

“Vixen?” He questioned, a grin slowly spreading across his face. The cat’s only response was to purr and rub against his legs.

“Those cops’ll be on the lookout for me now,” He muttered while scratching the cat fondly between the ears.

“I gotta find out where we are…” he continued with a deepening frown. He hesitated before deciding.

“We’ll stay here today and head for civilisation first thing tomorrow,” The cat butted its’ head against his hand with a cheerful mrow. Razor glanced at the red beaded bracelet on his left wrist and sighed.

“Come on,” Razor prompted the cat and paced up and down the hedge’s boundary, searching for gaps through which he could be seen or ambushed. The cat trotted beside him, its’ left foreleg impacting the ground more heavily in compensation for the missing right foreleg.

Once he was reasonably satisfied with the tenuous cover that the hedge offered him, the boy shucked his hoodie and began a jog around the field. He started slow, to warm up and steadily began to speed up as he went. The cat followed by his side at first, but soon grew bored and sat down to watch. The cat settled week away from its’ companion to avoid being tripped over.

Razor pushed himself forwards, moving steadily around the field. He stayed at an even pace, not breaking for a little over an hour. By the end of it, he was gasping for breath and sweat had soaked through his shirt. He began to slow before coming to an even stop. The boy allowed himself a few seconds just to breath, his chest heaving.

“Stupid *huff* weak *huff* child body,” He whined childishly. His griping was interrupted by a scolding yowl from the cat who had gotten up from where she had been napping in the sun to approach him.

“Yeah, yeah,” He rolled his eyes at the over-protective animal and started in on his cool down stretches.

The preteen trotted back to the hedge with Vixen meandering amongst the cows behind him. The animals had mostly ignored the two invaders, content to continue their grazing. Razor methodically checked over his possessions, searching for signs that they had been tampered with in one of his less attentive moments. Once his worry had seemingly been appeased, the blonde dug out a half-crushed energy bar and almost empty packet of dried cat food from the shoulder bag. The she-cat stared intently at the packet in Razor’s hands, her tail gently swaying in anticipation. He grimaced at the meagre supplies left foodwise, but still quirked a smirk at his cat’s excitable reaction.

Razor unsealed the packet and shook some cat food into the grass, smiling fondly at Vixen when she contentedly snapped it up.   
He wrinkled his nose at his now a little disgusting shirt, but decided to leave it for now. He’d put his hoodie back on once he’d dried off. He wasn’t expecting an opportunity to wash any time soon and he wanted to spread what little clothing he had for as long as possible.  
Holding his now opened energy bar in one hand, the boy pulled a small dog-eared notebook and a pencil, sharpened within an inch of its’ life, out of the shoulder bag. He spent the rest of the day furiously sketching increasingly Illegible scribbles onto the pages. He’d go back over old writings and scratch some out with a scowl, circle some and add to others. All the while he was mumbling along at undecipherable speeds.

By the time the boy snapped shut his notebook with a strangled cry of frustration, the day’s light had become dim, making it difficult to see what he was writing. He buried his face in his hands, hissing out a long distressed breath, tense with the effort it was taking not to scream or cry as he’d used to react to stressful situations. 

A quiet mewl broke Razor from his downward spiral and he looked up at his primly sitting cat. He cleared his head with a shake. That was right, he had people to get back to and someone right here to look after.

The blonde tumbled to his feet, stretching out his limbs to get rid of the cricks and numbness. Now feeling decidedly cold, he wriggled back into his hoodie

“Guess I gotta get my beauty sleep”, he smirked down at Vixen. Together, the two returned to the hedge where Razor had slept the night before.

  
The previously poking branches were avoided with a grimace as the boy shuffled into a sleeping position. He manoeuvred his backpack under his head to use as a pillow and closed his eyes, the cat laying over his legs like a living hot water bottle and once more drifted to sleep on a bed of leaves and twigs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments feed my soul, hope you enjoyed! :)  
> ~Leaf


	4. Dreams or memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for some very implied torture in this chapter, skip to the line break if you feel uncomfortable with it

He raced across the field of high grass, the tallest blades above his head. He laughed brightly with the younger boy running beside him…  
…Joy…  
…Love…

He watched the bursts of colour exploding above him, holding the small hand of the boy. Voices chattered excitedly around, children squealed in excitement and booms echoed above them…  
…Fun…  
…Excitement…

He ran (ran, ran, ran) from the monsters. Pale skin, sharp teeth, towering over him!  
…Fear…

He clambered over **_£)* &_$_**, screaming out a name he couldn’t hear. The loud cries around him ripped the words from the air…  
…Fear…  
…Fear…  
…Fear…

He yelled for the boy to:  
“Run! Go! Just _run_!” as he turned to face the **m** _O_ nsT _e_ R **s**.  
…Fear…  
…Hate…  
~~…Love…~~

He ran again with the boy, hand in hand, side by side, another girl holding his other hand. They were going to make it, they-…  
…Fear…  
…Hope…

He sat, laughing with the boy, a small fire crackled beside them as they talked.  
…Hope…  
…Joy…  
…Love…

Once more he faced the _M_ o _N_ St **E** _r_ **S** …  
…Fear…  
…Despair…  
It’s okay, they’re safe, it’ll be okay, you’re not giving up, it’s-.

He could hear… Words? It was- He couldn’t understand, couldn’t make them out, please he’s- he’s sorry! He couldn’t understand…  
…Fear…   
…Pain…

They asked him a question. No. No! Won’t tell you. Won’t _tell_ you!  
…Fear…  
…Fearfear…  
…Painpain…

Digging in, under his skin…  
…fear…  
…fear…  
…fear…  
…pain…  
~~…pain…~~

Burning, he was burning!  
…Fear…  
…Pain…  
… _Anger_ …  
…Painpain…  
…Ago _Ny_ …

What do they want? What do they want? Can’t understand. Please, please, stop…

…Pain……Pain……Anger……Anger _Anger_ …

They _won’t_ leave him alone…  
…Pain…  
…Pain…

S N A P

Anger…

Anger!

ANGER!

ANGER!!!

Metal bent, stone crushed, angerangerangerangeranger-.

**_STOP!_ **

* * *

… His eyes fluttered gently open, and he saw a strange boy leaning over him (ANGER!), he lunged towards the boy and **_£$£”£*-!_**

* * *

Razor lurched up, eyes snapping open and darting around in panic. He was panting and sweating heavily. He flinched when he felt something rubbing against his arm, but relaxed when he realised that it was only Vixen. He shakily scratched the cat between her ears.

“Only a dream, only a dream,” he whispered repeatedly, almost like a mantra.

“Thanks Vixen, I’m fine now,” he spoke with a hoarse voice. He settled back down, mindful that it was still dark and he would need all the rest he could get. He would probably wake up with scratches from his jerky movements amongst the branches, but right now he was too numb to care.

  
“See you in the morning,” He mumbled to the cat who curled back up, leaning against him.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed again, I'd love some feedback!  
> ~Leaf :)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a repost from fictionpress.  
> I was originally challenged to write this five years ago, I've decided to post it here since I've finally plotted the whole thing out and started writing again. Hope you enjoy!  
> ~Leaf :)


End file.
